Jan. 20, 2018
COLUMBIA, S.C. – Georgia Tech swimming and diving earned a split with the South Carolina Gamecocks on Saturday afternoon, as the men’s team defeated the No. 25 ranked Gamecocks 168-130, while the women’s team fell to USC 176.5-118.5 at the Carolina Natatorium in Columbia, S.C.
“It was a big win for our men’s team over a top 25 program. Overall, I thought we had a decent meet. We had some ups and down throughout the events and we will look to sharpen that up against Emory next week,” head coach Courtney Shealy Hart stated.
The Yellow Jackets will conclude its 2017-18 dual meet season next Saturday, Jan. 27, as Tech will host Emory for Senior Day. The Senior Day recognition will start at approximately 10:45 a.m. with the meet set to kick off at 11 a.m. at the McAuley Aquatic Center.
Women’s Highlights
The Georgia Tech women’s team (4-3) picked up one win apiece from senior Megan Young (100 back) and junior Iris Wang (50 free), four runner-up finishes and a slew of third-place showings on the day, yet it wasn’t enough to overcome the home-standing South Carolina Gamecocks (5-3) who held on for a 176.5-118.5 win over the Yellow Jackets.
The meet started off on the diving boards, as freshman Camryn Hidalgo (284.63) and sophomore Carly Doi (260.40) placed second and fifth overall, respectively, in the women’s 1-meter dive to get the Yellow Jackets on the scoreboard.
Tech’s trend of runner-up finishes would continue over the next several events, starting with the ‘A’ relay team of Young, Florina Ilie, Laura Branton and Kaitlin Kitchens placing second overall in the women’s 200 medley relay with a time of 1:43.40.
Sophomore Emily Ilgenfritz (10:17.91) and freshman Camille Long (10:25.08) then finished in second and third overall, respectively, in the women’s 1000 free, while Wang (1:49.34) and freshman Celine Nugent (1:52.48) followed with a runner-up and fifth-place finish of their own in the women’s 200 free event.
Young stopped the runner-up trend and registered the first win of the day for the women’s team with a first-place time of 55.40 in the women’s 100 back and led a swarm of Jackets in Allie Paschal (56.44), Caroline Lee (56.99), Sara Gilbert (57.51) and Grace Mauldin (58.37) who finished 3-6, respectively.
After Ilie (1:05.65), Julia Shuford (1:05.82) and Catriona MacGregor (1:05.93) placed third, fourth and fifth, respectively, in the women’s 100 breaststroke race; and Ilgenfritz (2:03.72) and Branton (2:06.06) finished third and fifth overall in the women’s 200 fly event, fellow Yellow Jackets Kitchens (23.75), Wang (23.81), Morgan Lyons (24.26) and Megan Hansen (24.51) touched the wall 3-6 in the women’s 50 free to keep Tech within reach of the Gamecocks in the dual points race.
Wang added another win for the Yellow Jackets with her first-place time of 50.99 in the women’s 100 free, finishing ahead of both Kitchens (51.65 – tied for third) and Hansen (53.40 – fifth) who also tallied points in the sprint event.
A trio of Yellow Jackets scored on the women’s 3-meter springboard dive, as Hidalgo (286.43 – third), Paige Gohr (240.75 – fifth) and Doi (236.33 – sixth) all placed in the top six, as Tech continued to try to close the gap with the Gamecocks.
Tech again picked up a runner-up finish in the women’s 200 backstroke event, as Paschal touched the wall second overall with her time of 2:02.59, edging fellow teammate and classmate MacGregor and her third-place time of 2:03.81.
Fellow first-year Jacket Shuford followed with a third-place showing in the women’s 200 breast event with a time of 2:20.52, while Ilie finished right on her heels with her time of 2:20.81, good enough for fourth overall.
In the 500 free, the Jackets registered their seventh-straight third-place finish as Ilgenfritz touched the wall in third with a time of 5:01.03, while Nugent (5:06.71), Long (5:11.23) and Lindsay Wallace (5:11.83) finished fifth, sixth and seventh, respectively.
Sophomore Chloe Miller (56.89), Lyons (57.11), Branton (57.52) and Young (57.84) finished third, fifth, sixth and seventh overall, respectively, in the women’s 100 fly event, before senior Kira de Bruyn ended the run of third-place finishes with a first-place win in the women’s 200 IM with her time of 2:06.75.
The Yellow Jackets closed the dual meet out with a team-best time of 3:25.59 in the 400 free relay, as Tech went 1-2-3 in the final event of the day in terms of the final scoring results.
Men’s Highlights
The men’s team (5-2) totaled nine NCAA B qualifying and standard marks and 11 wins overall, highlighted by two wins apiece by Matt Casillas (1-meter and 3-meter dive), Christian Ferraro (100 and 200 fly), Noah Harasz (50 and 100 free) and Rodrigo Correia (100 and 200 back), as well as a pair of relay victories and an individual win by Caio Pumputis (200 free) to upend the No. 25 nationally-ranked Gamecocks (3-4) 168-130 on Saturday.
Casillas got the Jackets off on the right track to start the meet on Saturday, as the junior picked up the victory in the men’s 1-meter dive with a meet-best score of 346.95. Behind Casillas in the springboard diving event, was a trio of fellow Jackets in Henry Carman (284.63), Jacob Kreider (272.03) and Davis Waln (253.65) who finished third, fourth and fifth overall.
The Jackets then went on to earn a win in the men’s 200 medley relay, as the ‘A’ team of Correia, Moises Loschi, Ferraro and Harasz touched the wall first with a time of 1:29.45, just .24 seconds ahead of the runner-up team from South Carolina.
After Tech picked up team points from both Brennan Day (9:34.44 – fourth) and Colt Williamson (9.46.12 – sixth) in the men’s 1000 free, Pumputis scored a victory for the Jackets in the men’s 200 free with his first-place and NCAA B qualifying time of 1:36.74, placing three spots ahead of fellow classmate Albert Zhi and his fourth-place time of 1:40.22.
Correia continued the Jackets’ winning ways in the next men’s event, as the co-captain posted a time of 49.28 to win the men’s 100 back and lead a swarm of Jackets that included senior Brad Oberg (51.11) and freshman Austin Daniel (51.20) who placed third and fourth overall, respectively.
Following a runner-up finish from Loschi (54.86) and a fifth-place showing from freshman Jonathan Yang (56.84) in the men’s 100 breaststroke, Tech picked up another win in the men’s 200 fly by way of Ferraro and his time of 1:45.92. Behind Ferraro for the Jackets in the fly event were sophomores Clay Hering (1:49.73) and Tim Slanschek (1:50.37) who also scored for the visitors from The Flats with their third and fourth-place finishes.
Harasz then registered back-to-back wins in the 50 free (20.72) and 100 free (45.09) sprint events to continue to add to the Yellow Jackets’ lead.
Points in the sprint free events also came by way of a runner-up finish from freshman Corben Miles (20.88) and a fourth-place showing by sophomore Aidan Pastel (21.19) in the 50 free who also touched the wall in third-place overall in the men’s 100 free with a time of 46.41. Daniel added a point for Tech in the 100 free with his time of 46.72, which was good enough for fifth overall.
Tech’s Correia completed the sweep in the men’s backstroke events with a first-place finish in the 200 back with a time of 1:48.06, placing in front of two Gamecocks, fellow co-captain Williamson (1:50.17) and freshman Leon Warnakulasuriya (1:53.94).
In the 200 breast, Loschi (1:57.99), Pumputis (1:59.01) and Joseph Portillo (2:02.68) placed second, third and fifth, respectively, to add to the team points total, while in the men’s 500 free sophomores Joonas Koski (4:37.67) and Day (4:40.94) rounded out the top five in fourth and fifth-place to score for the Yellow Jackets.
A freshman would again get the Yellow Jackets back in the win column in the 100 fly, as Ferraro picked up his second win of the day with a first-place time of 48.21, finishing ahead of South Carolina’s Fynn Minuth (49.62) and fellow teammates Hering (49.82 – third) and Oberg (50.54 – fifth).
Pumputis recorded a runner-up finish in the men’s 200 IM with a time of 1:48.35, a mere three-hundredths of a second (.03) behind the first-place finisher of South Carolina, while Koski also scored in the medley event with his fifth-place time of 1:53.51.
Casillas went on to sweep the diving events with a victory in the men’s 3-meter dive with a score of 341.70, while Carman (308.40), Kreider (287.85) and Waln (253.13) finished third, fourth and fifth overall.
In the final event of the day, the Yellow Jackets took home both the win and a third-place finish in the men’s 400 free relay, as the ‘A’ team of Correia, Ferraro, Harasz and Pumputis touched the wall first with a time of 3:00.84, while the ‘B’ unit of Pastel, Hering, Oberg and Daniel placed third with a mark of 3:05.26.
Tech Tidbits
* Caio Pumputis recorded an NCAA B qualifying time of 1:36.74 in the men’s 200 free.
* Caio Pumputis posted an NCAA B qualifying mark of 1:59.01 in the men’s 200 breast.
* Caio Pumputis touched the wall in an NCAA B standard time of 1:48.35 in the 200 IM.
* Moises Loschi turned an NCAA B qualifying mark of 54.86 in the men’s 100 breast.
* Moises Loschi registered an NCAA B qualifying time of 1:57.99 in the men’s 200 breast.
* Christian Ferraro turned in an NCAA B qualifying time of 48.21in the men’s 100 fly.
* Christian Ferraro posted an NCAA B qualifying time of 1:45.92 in the men’s 200 fly.
* Matt Casillas turned in an NCAA zone diving standard score of 346.95 in the 1-meter dive.
* Matt Casillas posted an NCAA zone diving standard score of 341.70 in the 3-meter dive.
* Camryn Hidalgo recorded an NCAA zone diving standard score of 284.63 in the 1-meter dive.
* Camryn Hidalgo posted an NCAA zone diving standard score of 286.43 in the 3-meter dive
* Catriona MacGregor registered a new career-best time of 2:03.81 in the women’s 200 back.
* Jordyn Sak turned in a career-best score of 232.80 in the women’s 3-meter dive.
* Jordyn Sak recorded a season-best mark of 212.85 in the women’s 1-meter dive.
* Joonas Koski posted a new career-best time of 1:53.51 in the men’s 200 IM.
* Davis Waln posted a career-best score of 253.65 in the men’s 1-meter dive.
+ career-best marks represent times/scores while competing for Georgia Tech
For the latest information on Georgia Tech Yellow Jackets Swimming & Diving, follow us on Twitter (@GTSwimDive), Instagram (@GTSwimDive), and Facebook (Georgia Tech Swimming & Diving) or visit us at www.ramblinwreck.com.
